


Gravity

by WarAgainstReality



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst and Fluff, Lucifer's Cage, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 18:06:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10253963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarAgainstReality/pseuds/WarAgainstReality
Summary: Michael doesn't know the circumstances behind his possession of Adam.





	

As the world fell away, it felt like an ending. His task was incomplete and his charge was riding shotgun as they tumbled through the gaping portal into the worst part of Hell. Michael had failed and now he, Adam, and Sam Winchester would be trapped with a livid Lucifer for all of eternity.

Lucifer didn't look livid. Perhaps Sam was still in control. Either way, Michael couldn't bring himself to regret the hand buried in the boy's coat. He didn't know if it had been to save the boy, save his brother, or force the fight to continue on. He might never know. He just accepted that they were all probably true and, despite the millennia of warnings echoing in his ears, pulled his brother into the circle of his arms.

"It will be all right. You are not alone anymore," Michael murmured nonsensical comforts into the broad shoulder. "It will pass."

Soon the pain was too much to talk through. His wings did nothing to stop their descent. The wind ripped them back until he felt the ligaments tear and the bones dislocate. The hot air burned with every breath and every inch of his body, both true form and vessel, screamed for relief. His wings dangled broken and useless as they fell without resistance.

The pain was so intense that they fell in and out of consciousness. That is how it happened. One moment Lucifer/Sam was locked in his strong grasp and the next he was lost. Michael let out a wordless scream of anguish that was instantly swallowed by the endless void around them. He gave in. There was no way to stop their descent and the reason for his fall was stolen from him. What was the point?

That is how Adam Milligan was suddenly in control of his own limbs. The human part of him struggled against the fall instinctually even knowing there was nothing he could do. The other part of him tried to find the "parachute" aka Michael's wings still attached somewhere to his soul. The more frantic he became the more clumsily his vertigo-ridden mind worked. He was still fighting when they hit the ground. 

The impact left him broken. His medical knowledge made it clear that multiple bones were shattered. The darkness was too all encompassing for him to notice if he was bleeding out on the hard ground below. It was a safe bet.

Adam had only felt pain like this once before. He had screamed in agony until his voice gave out as the creature that wore his face ripped him apart piece by piece. Its smirk was stained red with his blood. It took its time reveling in his torment for hours as he bled out in the one place he was sure he would be safe: at his mother's side.

The pain didn't subside as he lay there but it got easier to move. Adam twitched testing out his limbs. The heat from before was replaced by a sub-zero chill that had his wet limbs coated in intricate icy patterns and partially frozen to the ground.

The pink tint to the ice didn't surprise him. What did was the man beside him. He lay there in the same position half frozen to the ground. His eyes were shut and his lack of movement extended to his stationary chest. Adam didn't think as he forced himself into action. 

He forced the body onto its back. His heavy breathing left puffs of white in the air as he frantically worked through the compression-breath cycle. He worked tirelessly on the body until the man wearily opened his eyes...right in the middle of the breath.

"There's no point in wasting your strength," the man murmured as he pulled away. "No one can truly die in the Cage. It's too easy an escape. Father would not be so merciful. It is a prison, after all."

That voice was too familiar. So was the pessimism but he didn't look like anyone Adam had ever met. His skin was bronze and peppered with freckles. His dark red hair was in a state of serious bed head from the cpr and his jade eyes seemed set as if he had stubbornly decided the answer to a question never asked.

"Adam?" The man examined him. "Why are you staring at me? Have I taken some strange form?"

"Michael?"

"Yes?"

"How are you there and who are you wearing?"

Michael just looked down examining himself. "The Cage tortures every being the same no matter the crime. Having a vessel would be an extra level of protection that is not allowed. This is me just as it was me before. An archangel has many forms. Apparently this is what I resort to when I am weakened. How would the Cage turn you against me if there is nothing corporeal to attack?

"What the hell are you talking about?" Adam almost hissed.

"Physical pain can only go so far. Many have grown accustomed to it. The Cage will tear away at everything you love, everything you are, until you are unrecognizable." Michael voice barely wavered. "It will make enemies out of allies and corrupt every memory of happiness. It was built for an archangel. I can't begin to imagine the damage it would cause to a human soul."

The words hung heavily in the air. What was left unsaid was obvious even for the one boy with Winchester blood and no hunting experience. Human souls in Hell were tortured and twisted to the point of no return. That's how demons are born. 

"You think I'm going to try to kill you?" Adam growled. "I'm not like you. No matter what you've done to me, I wouldn't."

"Adam?"

"No!"

Adam was too prideful to admit he was terrified as he walked away all the while ignoring the angel's warnings. How could it get worse? He was trapped in the freaking devil's cage with him and his high and mighty brother who didn't mind torturing Adam to force a yes. It's not like he was safer with a ruthless angel as company. He just had to avoid the other one and he would be fine.

He couldn't have been further from wrong. In the waves of confusion and anger, Adam had forgotten that the Cage was made to torture, to demolish the being held in its belly. It didn't matter how often he cried out that it wasn't real. Each time the pain was the same. Each time he played through his worst memories and fears. They could have been real. The only true rule of the Cage was that no one could escape through death. He had tried more times then he would ever willingly admit.

The frigid air bit at every inch of exposed flesh. His skin was a sickly pink and chapped to the point where the slightest move caused it to rip open and bleed. He was to the point where he couldn't feel the cold. The premed student, almost forgotten under the misery, noted that was a problem.

"Yeah right..." Adam spoke for the first time in a long time. "It's not like freezing to death is too inconvenient. I'll wake up right here."

In that moment a bright light engulfed the sky. It only lasted for a second but it was enough to throw him into an unchecked rage. The Cage had only lit up like that once since his endless incarceration: the day Sam was rescued. Someone else had been saved and Adam was still losing track of the years as the ice and flames took turns devouring his flesh.

His blood boiled until the ice around him felt almost warm. His nails dug into his palms and he lashed out at anything within reach. He flailed as the hatred bubbled up inside of him. Why? He was the only innocent. Sam had literally asked for it. Adam hadn't had a choice.

"Get back here, you bastard!" Adam's voice cracked from disuse as he yelled. "You don't-arghhhhh!"

Nearby, Michael heard the echoing scream. He was on his feet running towards the noise in a second. Finding Adam had been his goal, a distraction from the all encompassing pain, since they had parted. 

Michael had barely caught sight of an unruly, blood-encrusted head of blonde hair when the boy let out a cry and ran towards him. He had been alone for so long that Adam's lack of manners made sense to the angel. He ignored the warning bells in his head. However, he couldn't ignore the clawed hands coming at his throat. 

"Stop." Michael's voice was calm and full of authority. "I am not your enemy."

"Not. My. Enemy?!" Adam growled with each attempted blow. Michael easily dodged the boy leaving him panting and even angrier than before.

"Yes." 

Adam lunged with a superhuman force but he was still no match for the archangel. Michael hands became a vice around the boy's fists. Adam struggled but Michael wouldn't relent.

"I was created to be father's sword, a general to an endless legion of soldiers. I am one of the oldest creatures in all of creation. This is pointless."

"No," Adam panted. "I have to- you deserve to-"

"Why did you run away from me? What is this?"

"You've been in my head. You know how I feel," Adam seethed. "Do you know how many times I've had to live it again? How many times I was trapped in that 'perfect' room coughing up blood as my organs liquified?! How many times I screamed for help as the door locked me inside and my 'brothers' screamed for me? Why couldn't you have just left me in peace?! I could have been with my mom!"

"Adam-" Michael barely got the word out before Adam cut across him. "No, you don't get to torture and force your way inside someone and still get to act like you're some saint. You're a monster."

"I am far from a saint and I don't pretend to be otherwise. A soldier doesn't question orders. He merely obeys. Either way, I don't know what you are talking about... Adam, tell me."

"I didn't have a choice. I didn't sign up for this. I just wanted my mom back. I never said yes. You made me."

Adam's voice was weak and his body was wracked with tremors. Michael could see the scene. His connection to the boy, no matter how fragile, was enough for him to access the memory being shoved at him. He had healed the damaged body when he took possession of it. He had assumed the wounds were left over from the boy's death. He hadn't realized.

"I- didn't know. Zachariah did not have the authority or the right. Let alone my permission. I can't undo what has been done but I can help you now. You're losing yourself, Adam. Let me help you."

Adam was floored by the honest sadness and worry in those jade eyes. It was obvious that he hadn't known. The anger was still inside of Adam but he forced it down. The one responsible was dead. He couldn't do anything else.

Adam just nodded. Something inside of him broke as he allowed himself to lean against the archangel. He had been alone for more years than he could count. There was something necessary in simple human(ish) contact.

Michael had a smile in his eyes as he pulled the boy closer until he was in the shelter of his arms. Michael laid his hand on the boy's face and let his grace flow. Soon the raw, burned, and half frozen skin was healed. Without pain for the first time since their fall, Adam fell asleep in the archangel's arms. 

Michael just held his charge and gently brushed through his hair. Adam never stirred. It might have been his imagination, but Michael could have sworn the corruption in Adam's soul had minorly receded. He would personally make sure to banish every sign of it no matter how many millennia it might take.


End file.
